New Science Tools for Spatial Distribution of Yield and Management Practices of Major Pulse in Selected Area in Myanmar

Abstract

Pulses are one of the major agricultural exports in Myanmar. About 70 percent of all pulses are normally grown immediately after monsoon rice in middle and lower region. Farmers are not achieving the optimum yield due to inappropriate crop management and insufficient technological solutions although modern varieties are cultivated extensively. The introduction of applying new science tools such as GPS, GIS and drone image can develop timely and accurate estimation of crop areas and forecasting its production. It may also provide governments, planners, and decision makers with essential information to make a successful plan of appropriate technologies in regard to import/export. The study was conducted at Kyee Inn Village, Pyinmana Township, middle Myanmar from December 2016 to May 2017 to expose mapping for spatial distribution of yield and management practices. Drone flying had done by using DJI Phantom 4 drone and Litchi software. Drone photos were consolidated and prepared for digitizing and analyzing with pix 4D software and ArcGIS. Seventy farmers were selected as sample respondents for collecting ground truth information of yield and management practices based on pulses cultivated area. The study revealed that the major pulse grown in target area was black gram with yields ranging from 0.16 to 2.29 MT/hectare. The majority of respondents were found to have low level adoption of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) of black gram recommended by Agricultural Department. It is urgently needed to upgrade full adoption of improved recommended package of practices by supporting training institutions to train the farmers and recommend technological solutions for the increase of productivity. Thus, new science tools such as GPS, GIS and drone image must be applied in agricultural system for increasing crop productivity as well as improving livelihood of the farmers.